Editorial
1
/,,I I I.,/,,< rm,,,,o/ l)r,,rb,,,,,rc,rr. V<d I I, N,, 4. ,, 3,‘). ,‘)‘)I I’r1nk!d 111 (irc:,t I3rll:,ln No clear theme runs through this issue of the tnternational Journal of Educational Develop- ment except that all the papers included touch upon major issues and problems that have been thrown up by education in developing countries during the past twenty years or more. As countries gained their independence dur- ing the 1960s many encouraged by the former colonial powers, felt it was necessary either to establish a university or to expand existing higher education provision in order to provide trained manpower for the multifarious jobs needed. Concerns were being expressed about the costs of investment in this sector, however, long before the World Bank drew our attention to the educational crisis in sub-Saharan Africa in the mid to late 1980s. Now McMachon, in his paper on overinvestment in higher educa- tion in developing countries, takes the issue far wider than Africa and questions whether or not developing countries have been misled in this direction. The debate will no doubt rumble on. With an increasing number of countries, not least England and Wales, together with several other European countries, giving financial and managerial control to individual schools and governing/managing bodies, Preston’s paper on school management in Papua New Guinea is both timely and perceptive. Her analysis highlights the dangers of generalisation and points out that politics, gender and other local issues can act as major constraints on local management of schools. The question of school drop-out has con- cerned the World Bank, UNESCO and indi- vidual governments for the past two to three decades. Factors causing wastage and dropout vary from country to country, but most studies have implied that drop-out is more of a rural than an urban problem. It is extremely in- teresting, therefore, to read Psacharopoulos’ and Hongyu Yang’s analysis of educational attainment in Venezuela and to realise that those most at risk in that country are not rural females but are urban males. As in most studies on educational attainment levels of parental education are also crucial in encourag- EDITORIAL ing their children to stay on at school. More studies of this kind are needed. Kim-Renaud’s paper on the changing role of education in Korean society also gives a fasci- nating insight into a society about which, in Europe and Africa at least, too little is known except for its economic successes. It would seem that, given the right conditions, as has been shown in several Asian countries, formal education can be an engine of change and economic growth, but that the dangers of rigidity need to be addressed fairly and square- ly. While Western nations believe that they have gone too far down the road of liberalisa- tion and need to return to a more formal basic pattern of educational provision, they could well look afresh at the nations of the Pacific Rim, especially Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Singapore, “the four Asian Tigers” to see how commitment to education and discipline have transformed those societies in a matter of three or four decades. It is the absence of these latter virtues, together with administrative incompetence, nepotism. inadequate data and how teacher morale that so adversely affects educational development in much of Africa and why. according to Whitehead’s analysis of several World Bank discussion documents on educa- tional planning, so many educational plans are never adequately implemented. Too many governments and international agencies too frequently overlook the role of the teacher in implementing educational reform. If the teachers are consulted and understand the reasons for change they will help to make them work; if they are left in the cold they will undermine all attempts at reform. Alas, this single truth is so often ignored with the result that reform plans fail. If the lnternutior~ul Journul of Educutional Develop- ment can highlight case studies of the failure or success of educational planning and reform implementation it will provide a useful service to the international educational community. KEITH WATSON 269
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/,,I I I.,/,,< rm,,,,o/ l)r,,rb,,,,,rc,rr. V<d I I, N,, 4. ,, 3,‘). ,‘)‘)I
I’r1nk!d 111 (irc:,t I3rll:,ln
No clear theme runs through this issue of the tnternational Journal of Educational Develop- ment except that all the papers included touch upon major issues and problems that have been thrown up by education in developing countries during the past twenty years or more.
As countries gained their independence dur- ing the 1960s many encouraged by the former colonial powers, felt it was necessary either to establish a university or to expand existing higher education provision in order to provide trained manpower for the multifarious jobs needed. Concerns were being expressed about the costs of investment in this sector, however, long before the World Bank drew our attention to the educational crisis in sub-Saharan Africa in the mid to late 1980s. Now McMachon, in his paper on overinvestment in higher educa- tion in developing countries, takes the issue far wider than Africa and questions whether or not developing countries have been misled in this direction. The debate will no doubt rumble on.
With an increasing number of countries, not least England and Wales, together with several other European countries, giving financial and managerial control to individual schools and governing/managing bodies, Preston’s paper on school management in Papua New Guinea is both timely and perceptive. Her analysis highlights the dangers of generalisation and points out that politics, gender and other local issues can act as major constraints on local management of schools.
The question of school drop-out has con- cerned the World Bank, UNESCO and indi- vidual governments for the past two to three decades. Factors causing wastage and dropout vary from country to country, but most studies have implied that drop-out is more of a rural than an urban problem. It is extremely in- teresting, therefore, to read Psacharopoulos’ and Hongyu Yang’s analysis of educational attainment in Venezuela and to realise that those most at risk in that country are not rural females but are urban males. As in most studies on educational attainment levels of parental education are also crucial in encourag-
EDITORIAL
ing their children to stay on at school. More studies of this kind are needed.
Kim-Renaud’s paper on the changing role of education in Korean society also gives a fasci- nating insight into a society about which, in Europe and Africa at least, too little is known except for its economic successes. It would seem that, given the right conditions, as has been shown in several Asian countries, formal education can be an engine of change and economic growth, but that the dangers of rigidity need to be addressed fairly and square- ly. While Western nations believe that they have gone too far down the road of liberalisa- tion and need to return to a more formal basic pattern of educational provision, they could well look afresh at the nations of the Pacific Rim, especially Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Singapore, “the four Asian Tigers” to see how commitment to education and discipline have transformed those societies in a matter of three or four decades.
It is the absence of these latter virtues, together with administrative incompetence, nepotism. inadequate data and how teacher morale that so adversely affects educational development in much of Africa and why. according to Whitehead’s analysis of several World Bank discussion documents on educa- tional planning, so many educational plans are never adequately implemented. Too many governments and international agencies too frequently overlook the role of the teacher in implementing educational reform. If the teachers are consulted and understand the reasons for change they will help to make them work; if they are left in the cold they will undermine all attempts at reform.
Alas, this single truth is so often ignored with the result that reform plans fail. If the lnternutior~ul Journul of Educutional Develop- ment can highlight case studies of the failure or success of educational planning and reform implementation it will provide a useful service to the international educational community.
KEITH WATSON
269
